Filed to story: The Alpha She Chose Instead (Serena & Ethan)
“I don’t know how.”
My wolf howls, shaking the rafters, making himself known.
The crone narrows her eyes. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t do it.”
“Put it back!” I slam the table. The tea cups rattle, and a crack appears in the solid wood.
“I can’t, but I’ll make you an offer.” Her lips curl. “I’ll take the bond out of you, too.”
My hand flies to my chest. It feels no different. There’s no pulse, no burning fire like the mated males describe. There’s-silence.
“I assure you, it’s there.” The crone calmly sips her tea. “You can’t feel the blood coursing in your veins, either, but it’s there all the same.”
“No.” The suggestion itself has my claws drawn.
“The bond can only bring you misery. Serena doesn’t want you now. And you won’t force her.”
Rage surges through me, and the crone is wrong. I can feel my blood-it’s burning. “I am not my father.”
“No, you’re not. So since you don’t want her, let her go. Let her be happy with someone else.”
“Who?” It’s a snarl.
She waves her hand. “Relax. I’m talking theoretically.”
“You’re playing Fate.”
“And you don’t, Alpha?”
We are silent a moment, glaring at each other as I force my wolf down, compel the rage to abate. The crone is a canny adversary. You don’t go into the ring in a temper.
“There’s no way to reverse what you have done?”
She crosses her legs and smooths her slacks. “I didn’t say that. I said I didn’t know how.”
“You have cost me my young, witch.”
“You cost yourself. It’s your head that’s stuck up your ass.” My wolf rumbles, and she hurries to add, “And we don’t know that for sure. You could always, I don’t know, woo her. The moon works in mysterious ways.”
“Woo her?”
“You know. Dates. Flowers.”
“That’s human shit.”
She shrugs. “They do it at Moon Lake.”
I slowly exhale. “You have done me a grave disservice.”
“Maybe,” she says. “Or maybe I’ve done you a great favor. Go back to camp. Train your fighters. Let a female lure you to her bed. Nothing has to change.”
It’s the first lie she’s told me.
I glance out the window at the packed car. “You’re leaving?”
“I am.”
“Stay gone.”
“You’re exiling me?” She arches an eyebrow.
“I’m advising you. You can come back when my mate’s belly is round with my young.”
She laughs and moves to clear the cups from the table. “You always were confident.”
“I have always had cause to be.”
The crone pauses and cranes her neck to search my eyes. It’s the closest to a bent neck I’ll ever get from her. “You really don’t remember, do you?”
“Remember what?”
Her brow furrows. “I don’t think I should tell you. I don’t want to get in the way of the Fates.”
I snort. “Crone, you’re full of shit.”
She shrugs. “It’s hard to know what’s helping and what’s meddling. There’s no rule book.”
I have no clue what she’s talking about. There are rules. I made them. And folks don’t need help or meddling. Nine times out of ten, they need a swift kick in the ass.
I don’t think this conversation is going anywhere, though, and my wolf and I are agreed that we’ve been too long away from camp.
“Stay gone,” I tell the crone’s back as she turns on the faucet to rinse our dishes.
“I do what I want,” she tosses over her shoulder.
I know when to tap out, so I toss my shorts on a bench, head out the door, and let my wolf take our skin.
I’m done with this vague, hippie shit. I am going to get my mate. My body warms. A faint, strange pulse tick tocks in my sternum.
My wolf raises his snout as we race back to camp, and I swear words ring in his howls.
Took you long enough.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?